SINGAPORE - Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month price target for Asian equities on Friday, citing a better growth outlook and easing trade tension after the U.S. and China announced a temporary pause in tit-for-tat tariffs earlier in the week.

"A more constructive tariff backdrop suggests flat returns over the coming three months rather than a drawdown, but the upside may be constrained by continuing uncertainty over where tariffs will settle," Goldman Sachs strategists said in a client note.

The bank raised its price target for the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to 660 from 620. The index was last at 612.9 on Friday and is up 8% so far this year, hovering near its highest level since October.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Christopher Cushing)